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Sauce recipe

Buldak-Style Fire Sauce

A homemade take on the famous Korean fire noodle sauce. Very hot, sweet and garlicky.

Buldak-Style Fire Sauce
The ratio
  • 2 partsGochugaru
  • 2 partsSoy sauce
  • 2 partsHoney
  • 1 partGochujang
What you need
  • 2 tbsp fine gochugaru (Korean chilli flakes), or 1 tbsp for medium
  • 1 tbsp gochujang
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2 tbsp honey, or Korean rice syrup
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • 3 garlic cloves, finely grated
  • 1 tbsp neutral oil
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 3 tbsp water
Makes
About 150ml, enough for 3 packs of noodles
Ready in
10
Keeps
2 weeks in the fridge
How to make it
  1. Warm the neutral oil in a small saucepan over low heat and cook the garlic for 1 minute.
  2. Add the gochugaru and stir for 30 seconds until the oil turns red. Do not let it burn.
  3. Add the gochujang, soy sauce, honey, sugar, pepper and water and simmer for 3-4 minutes, stirring, until thick and glossy.
  4. Stir in the sesame oil. Toss through drained instant noodles with a splash of the cooking water, or brush onto wings.
About this sauce

This is our home version of the sauce on Samyang Buldak, the Korean fire noodles that turned eating very spicy food into a challenge. Buldak means fire chicken, and the flavour is a sweet, smoky, garlicky heat that keeps building.

Fine gochugaru brings the heat and colour, gochujang adds body, and honey and soy balance it out. Start with the smaller amount of chilli if you are not sure, and add a slice of cheese or a fried egg to calm it down.

What to put it on

Instant noodles, chicken wings, rice cakes, fried rice, grilled chicken and cheesy corn.

It is the sauce for our buldak-style fire noodles and works on tteokbokki rice cakes too. Read about gochugaru and gochujang.

Uses this sauce

Recipes that call for this sauce. Make a batch and cook one of these.

Pairs well with

Dishes this sauce suits. These recipes make their own glaze or dressing, so you can swap this sauce in.